I love poring over the information in Science's August 6th issue, with a special section dedicated to the early scientific discoveries at Gusev Crater. All kinds of information, like the severe diurnal temperature swings (limited mostly to the surface environment, a function of the thin, thin atmosphere), partial eclipses of the Sun caused by the moons Phobos & Deimos, and the locally low albedo caused apparently by dust removal by dust devils. Instead of a playa generated by water pouring into the Crater down Ma'adim Vallis, people were shocked to discover more volcanic basalt than any one had a right to expect (technically, near the junction of basalt, picrobasalt, and tephrite), and just a few signs of water, maybe just groundwater long ago - much different than the hematite being probed by the fellow Rover Opportunity on the other side of the planet.
After poking around at Bonneville Crater, the Spirit Rover was ordered to flee to the Columbia Hills, where the rocks seem more interesting. Currently the Rover is hibernating for about 11 days as Mars passes behind the Sun (interfering with communication).
Mars is certainly simpler than Earth. The 1997 Mars Pathfinder expedition found lots of andesite (or a surficial crust on rocks that certainly looked like andesite), which suggested some subduction had once taken place on Mars. But the stuff was virtually pure andesite. At Gusev, the primitive basaltic mineral content is virtually identical everywhere. Soil content is very similar over the whole, windblown planet. And very little has changed for billions of years! Mars is red, white and black: Earth is shades of grey, blue and white.
I suspect Mars isn't suited for human settlement, even with a major investment of resources. Certainly it would be a challenge. What did Elton John sing?
Mars ain't the kind of place
To raise your kids
In fact, it's cold as hell
And there's no one there to raise them
If you did
And all this science
I don't understand
It's just my job
Five days a week
A Rocket Man
Rocket Man
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